


on opening doors

by broyals



Series: down the hall [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, and maybe deciding to accept a little bit of help, just Sally thinking about the byers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 00:04:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20200405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broyals/pseuds/broyals
Summary: She clawed her way through paying for a dying uncle’s hospital bills before she was even a legal adult, she sure as hell can find a way to support herself and her son. Why should she need someone else?ORa look into sally jackson's mind





	on opening doors

**Author's Note:**

> sorry this is so short aksksks  
anyways a younger sally is a hard character to pin down but hopefully i didn't mess up too badly

Sally Jackson is not entirely sure of what to make of her new neighbors.

The Byers have something to hide, that much is clear, what with their occasional shared look when their past residence was brought up, one that spoke volumes of shared experiences and trauma. Sally knows those kind of looks, the kind people like her son eventually gained. Those with childhoods ripped away, lives teared apart. 

She is not unfamiliar with wanting to keep some things to oneself, with hiding parts of ones story if only to guard your own heart. After all, she had the child of a literal god. Sally Jackson knows secrets like the back of her hand at this point, so she isn’t about to pry about the family’s history.

Joyce Byers seems to have the same understanding of not wanting to share certain things. She doesn’t push when questions about Percy’s (as Jane had taken to calling him) father were dodged, doesn’t try to pry Sally’s past out of her.

That is a blessing. What is not a blessing was the woman’s constant insistence to take care of Sally’s expenses.

Now, Sally is well aware of the fact that her financial situation is not the best. She knows the (unfair, unwarranted, infuriating) loss of her previous job does nothing to help her in this. She also knows nothing is truly free, and she’s not planning to accept some handout from the nice lady next door just to end up owing her something. If she lets Joyce pay for her, she’ll be giving away a part of herself, and she can’t do that, can’t even think about it without feeling sick.

She clawed her way through paying for a dying uncle’s hospital bills before she was even a legal adult, she sure as hell can find a way to support herself and her son. Why should she need someone else?

(Except, she’s two weeks late on rent.)

Jonathan is nice enough, often away walking through the city taking pictures so she often doesn’t see him when she visits the apartment down the hall. Whenever he is there, he looks unsure of how to act around her, although she supposes she must look the same. She’s been told she’s a bit intimidating, but quite frankly not many things unsettle her more than people her own age, with every possibility to look at her and frown and the kid often carried in her arms, thinking of what an irresponsible young lady she must be. She hates them all, and she hates how much it affects her what they think. She wishes for nothing more than to feel free and unjudged, to know no one will frown at Percy like he should not be her, like there is someone out there that could take better care of him. She hates that she fears they’re right.

Is she even a good mother? There is nothing she wants more than to give her son the life she never had, and nothing pains her more than to know how unlikely that is. 

But she’s never had anyone but herself, and who is she supposed to use as a reference to what a good parent is? She’s never known one. 

(Except Joyce says “We could help you out, sweetie.” exactly like Sally had craved to hear her whole life.)

Will is a sweet kid, quiet and kind. He’s amazing with Percy, the baby has grown attached to him in a small amount of time. Sally sometimes thinks Percy’s first word will be his name. She wouldn’t mind too much. Maybe a little. 

There’s something about him, though, that feels so deep and sad, Sally thinks she might drown in it. He looks out the window and gets lost in the rain sometimes, his eyes speaking of horrors and tragedies, of things Sally isn’t entirely sure she wants to hear about. During those times, she has to resist the urge to wrap him up in her arms, to give him whatever comfort she can provide. She doesn’t feel it’s her place to do so.

(Except, some part of her wants it to be. She knows she’ll never be part of this family, but her heart yearns for something like it of her own.)

Jane is perhaps the strangest of them all, as quiet as Will yet a much louder presence. She’s not as good with the baby, clearly having no actual knowledge about how to care for a little human, but she’s trying so hard to learn and it might be the most endearing thing Sally has ever witnessed. She reminds Sally a bit of herself, a strong determined spark in her being, tainted with something like an angered grief. 

She talks in short sentences, often disconnected words, and the few times they’ve been out Sally has taken it to herself to glare at anyone that so much as looks at Jane weirdly for it. The young girl is so bright yet so dim, and Sally wishes to feed the fire in her soul, get rid of a little of the grief.

(She might dim her own grief too.)

Sally Jackson is not entirely sure of what to make of her new neighbors. Other than the fact that they’re the kindness she’s been looking for in the world, and perhaps said world has yet to give up on her. 

(She still won’t give herself away, but maybe she can leave Percy with them as she goes look for a job. And maybe she can take a jar of formula or two. And maybe she can let Joyce talk the manager at a candy shop into giving her a maternity leave despite only working there for a few days.)

**Author's Note:**

> my blog for riordanverse is valzhangs  
for st (also it) is benverli
> 
> pretty pls leave a comment


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